This invention relates to an inspection and documentation system and, more particularly, to an inspection and documentation system for circuit card assemblies and/or other fine mechanical parts or components.
Circuit card assemblies and other fine mechanical components such as finished precision parts require inspection and repair procedures to produce a high-quality product. For example, with respect to the inspection of a circuit card assembly, the component part numbers and component polarities must be verified. Further, with respect to the assembly inspection of the circuit card assembly, the component mounting, solder quality as well as quantity, hardware configurations and markings must also be verified.
As quality standards reach higher levels, as imposed by private industry and the government, an increase in the quantity of documentable defects found in an inspection piece is being required. Further, an increase in the calculation of accurate defect levels and the process control indicators associated with the document defects is also being required.
Prior known systems for inspecting and repairing circuit card assemblies have included a workstation at which the circuit card assembly is mounted on a rigid-path, motorized x-y-z table frame. An operator sits at the workstation and controls the table movements while viewing the circuit card assembly through a stereo microscope. When desiring to view a circuit component, the operator manually searches for and selects that component. The component identification is then read off of the circuit card assembly and compared with a list of part numbers to verify the correct component. This manual search and select system is both tedious and time consuming for the operator Further, when the defects must also be documented, as noted above for governmental or private industry standards, the operator must physically write a discrepancy note which is later transferred to a discrepancy form. Further, check marks must be made beside verified part numbers to eliminate any duplication of effort in the inspection and documentation process. In other words, all of the documentation steps required must be performed manually and are generally performed in separate steps.
There is therefore needed an automated inspection and documentation system allowing a quick location of inspection points and having an integrated documentation system.
These needs are met by the present invention which provides for manual control of an x-y-.theta. air-frame table for quick location of inspection points on the circuit card assembly or other inspection pieces. Further, the components and joints to be inspected are automatically identified via software used in the system rather than by manual search and select of the prior art. Further, any defect located is identified and documented in an integrated manner rather than as separate steps in the operation.
The present invention includes a workstation having a manually movable air-frame located on a table top. Mounted in the air-frame is the inspection piece, such as a circuit card assembly or fine mechanical part, to be inspected. Also mounted beneath the test piece on the air-frame is an electromagnetic digitizer. The digitizer operates in conjunction with a cursor fixedly positioned on the table top to provide x-y coordinates. A defect pointer, for example two white light sources converging at a single point fixed with respect to the workstation, allows the operator to manually move the circuit card assembly to align the inspection point with the converging light sources. The operator views the inspection point through a stereo microscope mounted to the workstation above the circuit card assembly. Through the use of the air-frame which forms an air cushion between the air-frame and the table top, the operator can easily slide the inspection piece on the table top to allow easy and quick alignment of the inspection point. The air-frame operates in conjunction with a foot pedal for activating and deactivating the air supply to the frame in a manner so as to allow the operator to cut-off the air flow when desired. This allows the air-frame to settle in a frictionally engaged position on the table top at selected inspection points.
The digitizer tablet and digitizer cursor are coupled with a CPU for providing digitized x-y coordinate information to the processor. The processor includes a memory for storing manufacturing information and part list information for the components on the circuit card assembly to be tested. The CPU further couples with a display monitor and mouse selector for interfacing the operator with the system software which controls the inspection and documentation process.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.